Hall & Oates
Live at the Apollo with David Ruffin & Eddie Kendrick (RCA 7035)

This is probably the most widely dismissed album in the Hall & Oates catalog, and considering that all Hall & Oates albums are already widely dismissed to begin with, that's saying something.

For some reason, I'd been hankering to hear the album again, having long ago sold back my LP (originally obtained from the RCA Record Club, incidentally). Nowadays the album is way out of print (though available on CD as an import … not quite worth going to all that trouble), so I picked up a used copy on cassette to see if the album was as good as I remembered it being in 1985. It's not, so I jumped in the time machine to have a conversation with 1985 me about it.

Current Me: Hey there, I notice you're listening to Hall & Oates Live at the Apollo.
1985 Me: Who are you, familiar-looking stranger? And what are you doing in my room?
Current Me: I'm you many years from now. I just wanted to know why you like this album so much.
1985 Me: It's so great! It's Hall & Oates, and members of the Temptations! It's like The Big Chill, only better because it's got Hall & Oates!
Current Me: Hm. Don't you think the songs are a bit tired?
1985 Me: What do you mean tired? These songs are classics, like CCR and Chuck Berry!
Current Me: Ah. I see. You know, the day will come when you won't really listen to those artists much.
1985 Me: What do you know? You know what, I'll keep liking them just to prove you wrong!
Current Me: Oh, no, if you do that, then you'll never discover Blue Note, or Brazilian music!
1985 Me: Well you should have thought about that before you started yelling at me, tubby.
Current Me: Look who's talking! You're tubbier than I am!
1985 Me: Not by much, besides, I have better things to do than travel in time to talk to myself. Like now I'm going to listen to Dare to Be Stupid by "Weird Al" Yankovic. I suppose that's not cool in "the future"?
Current Me: Um … not exactly. Say, why are you so hostile?
1985 Me: I am not hostile! What's your problem, anyway?
Current Me: I'm just concerned. You need to get your musical taste back on track. 1985 Me: What do you mean, back on track? I never want to be like you! You probably don't even like Julian Lennon, you fag!
Current Me: Whoa, now, that kind of language isn't cool anymore.
1985 Me: Hey … am I still writing song parodies in the future?
Current Me: Thankfully, no.
1985 Me: Well is "Weird Al" still popular in the future, at least?
Current Me: Improbably, more than ever! Anything else you need to know?
1985 Me: No, that's the most important thing. LONG LIVE WEIRD AL!
Current Me: Agreed.

Side B is all Hall & Oates material minus Ruffin and Kendrick ("I Can't Go For That," "One on One," "Possession Obsession," "Adult Education"), and listening to it now I am not certain that I ever listened to it before.

Side A is pretty top-heavy with relative quality compared to Side B, which is marginally interesting at best. Far more strained vocals on Side B, though Ruffin and Kendrick each have their weak moments on Side A … but at least they have the excuse of being old-timers. Tons of off-harmonies throughout, certainly not something I'd have noticed in 1985.

Overall, it's a decent record, and as Hall & Oates' sole live record, it is of interest to fans of the duo (though judging by Internet fan sites, there's not all that much interest).

Chalk this one up to inexplicable nostalgia. I will say, though, that if they expanded it to like 18 tracks and put it in a brilliant box, I would be first in line to buy it, but then that goes for pretty much any album ever made.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Mason Bray